American statutes are published in three basic versions.
Slip law: the first version of a newly enacted statute, or act, published as a single law. Neither federal nor state slip laws are widely distributed in print, but access is generally available online. Each act is designated by a law number, e.g., Public Law 92-195.
Session laws: enacted statutes arranged by date of passage and published in separate volumes for each legislative term. Official session laws are generally published only in bound volumes after a session has ended. Legislative sites and advance session law services provide the texts of new laws more quickly.
Statutory compilations or codes: collect all current statutes and arrange them by subject, usually called titles, and further divided into chapters and numbered sections. For non-positive law titles, the text of the statute as it appears in the Statutes at Large prevails over the text as it appears in the Code.
Unannotated codes contain the text of the law and may also include finding aids, brief historical references and other limited notes. Annotated codes provide more extensive historical information as well as references to interpretive cases, associated regulations, related secondary sources, and other materials that will help you better understand the statute.
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Advance Session Law Services
Two advance session law services cover federal statutes. In addition to session laws, each includes other information such as Presidential proclamations and selected administrative regulations. There are some differences between the services.
United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAN)
United States Code Service Advance (USCS Advance)
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Statutes At Large (Stat.)
This set supersedes the slip laws, and serves as the permanent official publication for federal laws. A numbered volume is issued for each session of Congress. The volumes contain a chronological arrangement of the laws according to their public law number and statutes at large citation. As discussed above, USCCAN serves as an unofficial version of the Statutes at Large.
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These sources provide access to statutes, incorporating their amendments, a particularly useful tool for non-positive law titles.
United States Code (USC)
The USC is the official codification of federal statutes as it is published by the government. There are 52 subject titles, with chapter and section subdivisions. (There are 54 title numbers, but Title 34 was repealed, and Title 53 is reserved.) Includes the text of the section, then historical notes, the Statutes at Large citation, and references to related code sections. The USC is published every six years with cumulative bound supplements issued in between editions. Publication typically runs several years behind. For example, the library received the first volume of the 2000 Code in September 2001 and the last volume of the 2000 supplements in April 2008. To update, check the annual bound supplement for changes. Unofficial commercial versions of the code are updated more frequently.
United States Code Annotated (USCA)
West's alternative to the USC uses the same title, chapter, and section format as the USC, but is more up-to-date and offers annotations for related court decisions and references to related secondary sources. The USCA attempts to provide comprehensive annotations.
United States Code Service (USCS)
Lexis' alternative to the USC uses the same title, chapter, and section format as the USC, but is more up-to-date and offers annotations for related court decisions and references to related secondary sources. The USCS annotations focus on the best decisions and try to weed out obsolete or repetitive information.
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